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BOURNEMOUTH: Chelsea’s Diego Costa, No19, hits a shot on goal that hits Bournemouth’s Adam Smith, left and goes in for the opening goal of the game during their English Premier League soccer match between Bournemouth and Chelsea at Dean Court stadium in Bournemouth, England, yesterday. — AP

SOCCER Hazard, Alonso send Chelsea closer to title

perfectly flighted free kick after 68 minutes. a pass out to Victor Moses on the right. His low him to his left and rolled the ball into the net the interval. King took Afobe’s pass and, as Tottenham had trimmed Chelsea’s advantage ball inside found Costa, who turned and shot despite appearing to stumble. defenders retreated, tried a shot. The ball Bournemouth 1 to four points by crushing Watford 4-0 earlier in left-footed. It might have been three after 27 minutes flicked off the thigh of Luiz and zipped high the day, but Chelsea’s victory left them seven His mishit effort was going well wide until it when Alonso’s clever pass gave Hazard the between Courtois and his near post. Fraser hit points clear with seven games of the season grazed the head of right-back Smith, who was chance to cross from the left, but when the a low shot just wide as Bournemouth looked remaining. attempting to block, and dropped gently inside ball reached Costa, he shot well wide. for an equaliser early in the second half, but Chelsea 3 However, they were almost a goal down in the post with goalkeeper Artur Boruc hopelessly That might have proved a costly miss as Costa missed two good chances to restore the first minute. Bournemouth midfielder Ryan wrong-footed. the home side went close to a goal 60 sec- Chelsea’s two-goal advantage. Fraser curled a cross into the six-yard area and Costa had not scored in his previous four onds later. Striker Benik Afobe charged First he just failed to get his head to BOURNEMOUTH: Chelsea delivered the perfect David Luiz, perhaps blinded by the low sun, appearances for Chelsea, but manager Conte unmarked into space to meet Charlie Hazard’s volleyed cross and then he missed response to Tottenham Hotspur by winning 3-1 sliced his attempt at a volleyed clearance back had expressed his confidence in the forward as a Daniels’s cross from the left, only to volley Alonso’s low cross from a yard out. at Bournemouth yesterday to restore their seven- towards his own net. scorer and creator of goals. This was vindication against the inside of the post. The ball However, he contributed to Chelsea’s third point lead at the top of the Premier League table. It looked a certain goal until goalkeeper of a sort. A minute later it was 2-0 after Wilshere rebounded across goal, but a fortunate touch goal when he was fouled 22 yards out by Antonio Conte’s men went ahead after 17 Thibaut Courtois flung out his left arm to divert lost possession in midfield and N’Golo Kante sent off Courtois’s leg took it away from King, who Steve Cook. Alonso capped an excellent per- minutes when Bournemouth’s Adam Smith the ball for a corner-kick. But Chelsea recovered Hazard through. would otherwise have had an almost unmiss- formance with a precise free-kick that soared deflected in Diego Costa’s shot and Eden Hazard their composure quickly and took the lead, just able chance. over the wall and found the top-right corner made it 2-0 within a minute. after Jack Wilshere-on loan to Bournemouth FORTUNE SHINES ON COURTOIS It was a sign that Bournemouth were in no of the net with Boruc rooted to his line. Boruc, Joshua King halved the deficit just before from Arsenal-had created a chance for Fraser Just onside, Hazard ran on, feinted to mood to surrender to the league leaders and though, did well to deny Chelsea a fourth half-time, but Marcos Alonso made it 3-1 with a that he put well wide. Luiz began the move with shoot to the goalkeeper’s right, went round they pulled a goal back three minutes before with a one-handed save from Moses. — AFP

Aguero strikes as Man City end winless run West Bromwich 0 through ball to the Spain playmaker. Elmohamady. Hull should have equalised tried to block. Sane almost added a third Jakupovic was untroubled by three long- immediately as Grosicki cut back from the left instantly, but fired Sterling’s cross on the run Man City 3 range City efforts, one from Aguero and two for Evandro to steer a cross-shot goalwards, straight at the goalkeeper. Southampton 1 from Delph, all of which were off target. The but Oumar Niasse lost his bearings and That third goal arrived just beyond the goalkeeper, though, needed to be on his toes skewed his effort sideways from seven yards hour mark, as Sterling raced on to Toure’s to tip over a free-kick from Yaya Toure, out. Silva, making his 300th appearance for pass to lead another counter-attack, and then Hull City 1 moments after the midfielder, set up by City, volleyed over from Sterling’s cross on the rolled a pass left for Delph to thump in his Delph, had steered a first-time shot that stretch just before half-time. first Premier League goal in more than a year. dipped just over. But the home side did extend their lead That would have made it a perfect after- Clasie strike MANCHESTER: Sergio Aguero struck as City’s probing brought reward just after three minutes after the interval, as Sterling noon for Guardiola, but it was spoilt late on as Manchester City ended a four-match run the half-hour mark, when Jesus Navas, con- darted down the right and cut across goal for Shaun Maloney cut the ball back for sinks West Brom without a Premier League win by beating Hull verted from a winger into a right-back, Argentina international Aguero to control Ranocchia, on loan from Inter Milan, to steer a whipped over a cross on the run that eluded and squeeze a shot past Jakupovic, shot under Bravo’s dive with the visitors’ only City 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium yesterday. LONDON: Jordy Clasie’s excellent first-half goal gave Aguero and was turned into his own net by Elmohamady and Michael Dawson as they effort on target. —AFP Ahmed Elhmohamady’s own-goal, just after Southampton a fourth win in their last six Premier League match- the half-hour mark, gave Pep Guardiola’s es yesterday with a 1-0 victory over West Brom. team a lead at the interval, before they The 25-year-old Dutch international’s goal-only his second for pressed home their advantage. the club since joining in 2015 — condemned West Brom to their Aguero squeezed in a second goal three fourth loss in six and worryingly for the hosts the fifth time in six minutes after half-time, set up by Raheem matches they have failed to score. Sterling, who also created the third with a The game was a slow burner and it took over 20 minutes for short pass that Fabian Delph thumped in for either side to have a shot on target, James Morrison letting go his first league goal of the season. Hull from long range but Fraser Forster got down to save. pulled one back late on through Italian Southampton replied with a much more effective strike, defender Andrea Ranocchia, with a shot that Dusan Tadic setting up Clasie who tucked the ball away with recalled goalkeeper Claudio Bravo should have saved. Victory strengthened City’s grip aplomb from the edge of the penalty area in the 25th minute. on the fourth and final Champions League Whilst Clasie took the applause for Tadic it was another illus- qualification spot, with Guardiola’s men now tration of his importance to the Saints, it being his 24th assist seven points ahead of fifth-placed Arsenal since joining the club in 2014. Meanwhile Hull remained just above the rel- West Brom were fortunate not to be going in at half-time fur- egation zone. Hull’s home form has been the ther behind given Southampton’s dominance but Ireland striker key factor in their push for top-flight survival Shane Long wasted two good chances to extend their lead. since manager Marco Silva’s arrival in Tadic went close early in the second-half but his half volley January; they arrived at the Etihad having flew past Ben Foster and over the bar while the West Brom keep- taken just one point from their previous 13 er’s legs prevented Nathan Redmond doubling the lead minutes away matches. Silva set up his team to later. Matt Phillips’s subdued return to first team action-he had absorb City pressure and then cause prob- been out injured since 2011 — ended just after the hour mark as lems on the counter-attack, which they did at he was replaced by Tony Pulis with Irish international James times, without causing Bravo too many diffi- McClean. culties for most of the match. The Chile inter- It almost paid instant dividends as McClean broke into the national was recalled in goal for his first Southampton area but Forster reacted brilliantly to snatch the Premier League appearance since January 21, ball off the Irishman’s toes. Redmond, superbly found by Cedric but all he had to do in the first half was punch Soares, went close again with a sharp volley which was well away one cross from Kamil Grosicki. saved by Foster. Foster, though, almost ruined his good work when a underhit STERLING SERVICE clearance went straight to Tadic but the Serbian’s shot from Manchester City threatened early on, with inside the area went just wide. West Brom pressed for an equalis- Eldin Jakupovic making a double save from MANCHESTER: Manchester City’s Yaya Toure, right, challenges Hull City’s Evandro Goebel during their English Premier League match at the er but Forster stood firm and produced a superb save to deny David Silva and Leroy Sane after Aguero’s Etihad Stadium, Manchester, England, yesterday. — AP Craig Dawson in time added on. — AFP